Danica Patrick: Building momentum

It appears to be the worst-kept secret in motorsports -- Danica Patrick is going to drive full-time in NASCAR next year.

There has been nothing official. But if you believe the whispers, and they are steadily becoming louder and more widespread, then you know the announcement is inevitable.

Patrick, who is in the final year of her IndyCar contract, said recently her agents are fielding various offers and, other than "random updates," she's not sure where the negotiations are headed.

Patrick, who will be at Daytona International Speedway this week to compete in her sixth Nationwide Series race of the season, apparently is headed -- one way or another -- to a new career in stock cars.

John Andretti, cousin of Patrick's IndyCar owner Michael Andretti and one of the pioneers to make the shift from the top level of American open-wheel racing to NASCAR, believes Patrick's move is a good one, but he cautions patience.

"I think she is doing it the right way, working her way up in the Nationwide Series," John Andretti said in a telephone interview last week.

Patrick ran in 13 Nationwide Series races last year for Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s JR Motorsports, finishing no better than 19th. This year she already has two top-10 finishes in five starts, including fourth place in Las Vegas on March 5.

She is expected to run a full-time Nationwide schedule next year while mixing in some Sprint Cup races. Andretti's advice: Don't get discouraged.

"The competition in Sprint Cup," he said, "is not one or two steps, but 20 to 25 steps more intense than Nationwide. If you look toward the back of the pack in Sprint Cup, those are still very talented people and great race teams. Nationwide is not like that. It's not the same level of investment."

She is right to move forward cautiously, Andretti said. Her next decision could be the most important in her career. Getting involved with the wrong team could be a mistake not easily overcome.

"You've got to pick the right people, because in reality not everyone is going to be supportive for very long," he said. "The way the sport is, you have to get results. It's really important for her to get in an environment where they are going to stand by her, because there are going to be dark days for everybody. You are going to get beat up."

In recent years, many successful open-wheel racers, from Scott Pruett to Dario Franchitti, have either failed or given up their quest to become full-time stock car racers.

But there seems to be more at stake this time for both Patrick and NASCAR. When she makes the switch she will not only bring along her big-money GoDaddy.com sponsor but also a popularity that extends well beyond the sport. Not even Earnhardt can match that.

On one hand Patrick will be welcomed into the tight-knit stock-car community as someone who can help add to NASCAR's popularity. On the other hand, Andretti suggests she may encounter jealousy.

Andretti understands the pressure. He made a high-profile move of his own onto the scene in the early '90s. Not only is he the nephew of legendary racer Mario Andretti, but he was hand-picked to drive the Petty Enterprises' famed No. 43 STP car shortly after "The King", Richard Petty, left the driver's seat.

Patrick has proven she has talent and the ability to handle scrutiny, Andretti said, and he'd love to see her succeed.

"She helps motorsports," he said. "She'd be good wherever she decides to go. She helps everybody. She draws people into motorsports who may not have been motorsports fans, and I think that's a good thing. But I'd hate to see her move before she accomplishes everything she wants to accomplish."

And that means winning the Indianapolis 500.

This year, after she finished 10th at Indy, Patrick said: "Every time I come here and see someone else win, I hate it more. So the more times I come here, the more I love it, the more I want it."

Andretti was the first of three drivers to race in the Indy 500 and Coca-Cola 600 on the same day, doing it in 1994. Patrick could become the fourth.

'It's tough physically," he said. "Dehydration is going to be a factor. It's the longest IndyCar race and the longest stock car race back-to-back and it's going to be hot. She can get through it, but she can't drink a couple of sports drinks and jump in that stock car. You have to have IVs to make it work."

Humpy Wheeler, then the president of Charlotte Motor Speedway, encouraged Andretti to pull the double duty to increase publicity for the NASCAR race.

"My helicopter landed right by the front straightaway (at Charlotte)," Andretti said. "People were clapping as if the president was landing or something. Humpy made it like a show."

Andretti finished 10th at Indy in the afternoon, but a blew an engine at Charlotte and finished 36th. He said all his contracts after that stated he could no longer run in both races.

But Patrick would be able to do it if she wants to, Andretti said. In face, he said he could see Indy moving its race time an hour up to accommodate her quest.

"It's good for motorsports," he said.

What impact Patrick's jump into to NASCAR will have on motorsports remains to be seen. But one thing appears to be certain, after two seasons of dipping her toes, next year she'll be jumping in with both feet.